(By Delegate Louisos)
[Introduced January 30, 1995; referred to the
Committee on Education.]

A BILL to amend and reenact section seven-a, article four,
chapter eighteen-a of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to
requiring county boards of education to post seniority lists
at each school in the county.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section seven-a, article four, chapter eighteen-a of
the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one,
as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:

ARTICLE 4. SALARIES, WAGES AND OTHER BENEFITS.

§18A-4-7a.Employment, promotion and transfer of professional

personnel; seniority.

A county board of education shall make decisions affecting
the hiring of professional personnel other than classroom
teachers on the basis of the applicant with the highest
qualifications. Further, the county board shall make decisions
affecting the hiring of new classroom teachers on the basis of
the applicant with the highest qualifications. In judging
qualifications, consideration shall be given to each of the
following: Appropriate certification and/or licensure; amount of
experience relevant to the position or, in the case of a
classroom teaching position, the amount of teaching experience
in the subject area; the amount of course work and/or degree
level in the relevant field and degree level generally; academic
achievement; relevant specialized training; past performance
evaluations conducted pursuant to section twelve, article two of
this chapter; and other measures or indicators upon which the
relative qualifications of the applicant may fairly be judged.
If one or more permanently employed instructional personnel apply
for a classroom teaching position and meet the standards set
forth in the job posting, the county board of education shall make decisions affecting the filling of suchthese positions on
the basis of the following criteria: Appropriate certification
and/or licensure; total amount of teaching experience; the
existence of teaching experience in the required certification
area; degree level in the required certification area;
specialized training directly related to the performance of the
job as stated in the job description; receiving an overall rating
of satisfactory in evaluations over the previous two years; and
seniority. Consideration shall be given to each criterion with
each criterion being given equal weight. If the applicant with
the most seniority is not selected for the position, upon the
request of the applicant a written statement of reasons shall be
given to the applicant with suggestions for improving the
applicant's qualifications.
The seniority of classroom teachers as defined in section
one, article one of this chapter with the exception of guidance
counselors shall be determined on the basis of the length of time
the employee has been employed as a regular full-time certified
and/or licensed professional educator by the county board of
education and shall be granted in all areas that the employee is certified and/or licensed.
Upon completion of one hundred thirty-three days of
employment in any one school year, substitute teachers shall
accrue seniority exclusively for the purpose of applying for
employment as a permanent, full-time professional employee. One
hundred thirty-three days or more of said employment shall be
prorated and shall vest as a fraction of the school year worked
by the permanent, full-time teacher.
Guidance counselors and all other professional employees, as
defined in section one, article one of this chapter, except
classroom teachers, shall gain seniority in their nonteaching
area of professional employment on the basis of the length of
time the employee has been employed by the county board of
education in that area: Provided, That if an employee is
certified as a classroom teacher, the employee accrues classroom
teaching seniority for the time that that employee is employed in
another professional area. For the purposes of accruing
seniority under this paragraph, employment as principal,
supervisor or central office administrator, as defined in section
one, article one of this chapter, shall be considered one area of employment.
Employment for a full employment term shall equal one year
of seniority, but no employee may accrue more than one year of
seniority during any given fiscal year. Employment for less than
the full employment term shall be prorated. A random selection
system established by the employees and approved by the board
shall be used to determine the priority if two or more employees
accumulate identical seniority: Provided, That when two or more
principals have accumulated identical seniority, decisions on
reductions in force shall be based on qualifications.
Whenever a county board is required to reduce the number of
professional personnel in its employment, the employee with the
least amount of seniority shall be properly notified and released
from employment pursuant to the provisions of section two,
article two of this chapter: Provided, That all persons employed
in a certification area to be reduced who are employed under a
temporary permit shall be properly notified and released before
a fully certified employee in such athe position is subject to
release: Provided, however, That an employee subject to release
shall be employed in any other professional position where suchthe employee is certified and was previously employed or to any
lateral area for which suchthe employee is certified and/or
licensed, if suchthe employee's seniority is greater than the
seniority of any other employee in that area of certification
and/or licensure: Provided further, That, if an employee subject
to release holds certification and/or licensure in more than one
lateral area and if suchthe employee's seniority is greater than
the seniority of any other employee in one or more of those areas
of certification and/or licensure, the employee subject to
release shall be employed in the professional position held by
the employee with the least seniority in any of those areas of
certification and/or licensure.
For the purpose of this article, all positions which meet
the definition of classroom teacher as defined in section one,
article one of this chapter, shall be lateral positions. For all
other professional positions the county board of education shall
adopt a policy by the thirty-first day of October, one thousand
nine hundred ninety-three, and may modify said policy thereafter
as necessary, which defines which positions shall be lateral
positions. The board shall submit a copy of its policy to the state board within thirty days of adoption or any modification,
and the state board shall compile a report and submit same to the
legislative oversight commission on education accountability by
the thirty-first day of December, one thousand nine hundred
ninety-three, and by such date in any succeeding year in which
any county board submits a modification of its policy relating to
lateral positions. In adopting such a policy, the board shall
give consideration to the rank of each position in terms of
title, nature of responsibilities, salary level, certification
and/or licensure, and days in the period of employment.
After the fifth day prior to the beginning of the
instructional term, or after the first day of the second half of
the instructional term, no person employed and assigned to a
professional position may transfer to another professional
position in the county during that half of the instructional
term: Provided, That sucha person may apply for any posted,
vacant positions with the successful applicant assuming the
position at the beginning of the next half of the instructional
term: Provided, however, That professional personnel who have
been on an approved leave of absence may fill these vacancies prior to the next semester. The superintendent may fill a
position before the next instructional term when it is determined
to be in the best interest of the students.
All professional personnel whose seniority with the county
board is insufficient to allow their retention by the county
board during a reduction in work force shall be placed upon a
preferred recall list. As to any professional position opening
within the area where they had previously been employed or to any
lateral area for which they have certification and/or licensure,
suchthe employee shall be recalled on the basis of seniority if
no regular, full-time professional personnel, or those returning
from leaves of absence with greater seniority, are qualified,
apply for and accept suchthe position. Before position openings
that are known or expected to extend for twenty consecutive
employment days or longer for professional personnel may be
filled by the board, the board shall be required to notify all
qualified professional personnel on the preferred list and give
them an opportunity to apply, but failure to apply shallmay not
cause suchthe employee to forfeit any right to recall. The
notice shall be sent by certified mail to the last known address of the employee, and it shall beis the duty of each professional
personnel to notify the board of continued availability annually
of any change in address or of any change in certification and/or
licensure.
Boards shall be required to post and date notices of all
openings in established, existing or newly created positions in
conspicuous working places in all schools in the county for all
professional personnel to observe for at least five working days.
The notice shall be posted within twenty working days of such
position openings and shall include the job description. Any
special criteria or skills that are required by the position
shall be specifically stated in the job description and directly
related to the performance of the job. No vacancy shallmay be
filled until after the five-day minimum posting period. If one
or more applicants meets the qualifications listed in the job
posting, the successful applicant to fill the vacancy shall be
selected by the board within thirty working days of the end of
the posting period: Provided, That a position held by a
certified and/or licensed teacher who has been issued a permit
for full-time employment and is working toward certification in the permit area shall not be subject to posting if the
certificate is awarded within five years. Nothing provided
herein shall prevent the county board of education from
eliminating a position due to lack of need.
Notwithstanding any other provision of the code to the
contrary, where the total number of classroom teaching positions
in an elementary school does not increase from one school year
to the next, but there exists in that school a need to realign
the number of teachers in one or more grade levels, kindergarten
through six, teachers at the school may be reassigned to grade
levels for which they are certified without that position being
posted: Provided, That the employee and the county board of
education mutually agree to the reassignment.
When the total number of classroom teaching positions in an
elementary school needs to be reduced, such reduction shall be
made on the basis of seniority with the least senior classroom
teacher being recommended for transfer: Provided, That a
specified grade level needs to be reduced and the least senior
employee in the school is not in that grade level, the least
senior classroom teacher in the grade level that needs to be reduced shall be reassigned to the position made vacant by the
transfer of the least senior classroom teacher in the school
without that position being posted: Provided, however, That the
employee is certified and/or licensed and agrees to the
reassignment.
Any board failingthat fails to comply with the provisions
of this article may be compelled to do so by mandamus and shall
be liable to any party prevailing against the board for court
costs and reasonable attorney fees as determined and established
by the court. Further, employees denied promotion or employment
in violation of this section shall be awarded the job, pay and
any applicable benefits retroactive to the date of the violation
and payable entirely from local funds. Further, the board shall
be liable to any party prevailing against the board for any court
reporter costs including copies of transcripts.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require county boards
of education to post seniority lists for job openings at all
schools in the county.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.